“For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard these things he marveled at him…. Luke 7:8-9a
What kind of faith pleases God? I look at the above verse, and can’t but help be filled with hope and joy, and a sense of incredible awe at the wondrous nature of Jesus Christ. Why do I feel that way? First, the centurion’s faith is terribly imperfect. The centurion is one who, because of his relationship to the emperor, was one who in and of himself had no authority. He only had authority because of his standing with the emperor. What this centurion is saying is, “Jesus, your like me. You don’t have any authority in and of yourself. But I perceive that you have a great relationship with someone of higher authority. So say the word.” The point is; this man’s faith does not rise to Nicene Creed level faith and understanding on exactly who Jesus is. His faith is imperfect. His faith as rather weak as it were. Why should this bring a sense of hope, joy, and wonder to our hearts? Consider this: Is it the strength of this man’s faith that saves him and his servant? No. Was the reason Jesus commends his faith because of his perfect understanding? No.
It was not the strength of his faith, or the perfect nature of his faith that got Jesus’ attention - it was the OBJECT of his faith. In other words, he simply had enough faith to come to Jesus in the first place.
What kind of faith pleases God? The faith that pleases God is a faith that is placed solely and totally on Jesus. This should bring radical joy to your heart! To realize that our standing with God is not based upon a perfect faith, or a strong faith, but rather the object that our faith is in - Jesus, should cause us to praise! That in the face of my often imperfect faith, my weak faith at times, I know that Jesus still moves on the behalf of those who have enough faith to simply come to Him!
